Vista glitch could short sales

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MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: A potential security flaw for Microsoft’s new operating system Vista could hurt sales. Jason Paur reports.

JASON PAUR: The security problem isn’t likely to lead to the infamous worm type viruses of Windows past, according to Microsoft and independent security experts.

But the news could give pause to consumers and IT departments debating whether to make the switch to Vista.

Joe Wilcox edits Microsoft Watch.

JOE WILCOX: Will there be enough benefit down the road? If they start hearing how there’s still security problems, they could be as bad or worse than before. Whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter, just that it might be out there, then they may think, ‘well what’s the point of my going through all this trouble if I’m not going to get that extra security punch?’

Wilcox says businesses are especially likely to look closely because of all the employee training needed to convert to a new system.

The consumer version of Vista is due out next month.

In Seattle, I’m Jason Paur for Marketplace.